Highlight of WNC deep freeze? Frozen waterfalls

Western North Carolina has been in "Frozen"-like clutches since the last day of the year, complete with frozen waterfalls, making the last eight days one of the longest periods of such dangerously cold weather on record.

Looking Glass Falls in Pisgah National Forest, seen on Friday, Jan. 5, is frozen over. The ice slab ...more

Looking Glass Falls in Pisgah National Forest, seen on Friday, Jan. 5, is frozen over. The ice slab at the bottom is 8 feet above the normal pool level.

Courtesy of U.S. Forest Service

"These eight consecutive days of extreme cold is the third longest period of temperatures this cold. It is quite significant," said meteorologist Doug Outlaw with the National Weather Service in Greer, South Carolina.

The old year went out with an icy bang, clocking in with a high of 30 degrees and low of 19 in Asheville Dec. 31. But the new year trumped the 2017 chill, setting a record for the coldest high temperature for a New Year's Day at 21 degrees.

The average temperature for the first four days of the year is 20 degrees, Outlaw said, which is 17 degrees below the normal average temperature.

And those don't tell the tale of the wind chills, which have made the "feels-like" temperatures way below zero.

The coldest spot in the mountains this past week has most likely been Mount Mitchell State Park, Outlaw said. The temperature at the 6,684-foot-high mountain - the highest in the Eastern United States - was 6 below zero Jan. 5.

That's nowhere near the record, which was minus 34 on Jan. 21, 1985.

While the stinging cold has been bursting pipes and running up heating bills, it has brought at least one sparkling highlight - frozen waterfalls.

Looking Glass Falls, arguably one of the prettiest in the Pisgah National Forest, and the most accessible for photographing, has completely stopped in its 60-foot-high tracks.

The waterfall on U.S. 276 is a draw for Snapchatters, but also for ice climbers.

Video creator Marc Hunt says: “The situation is that thousands of pockets of ice form in the calm areas of the river along the shorelines, break free, and float down the long river and are stopped by the Craggy Dam in Woodfin near MSD.”

Marc Hunt/courtesy video

Sliding Rock Falls, also off U.S. 276 near Brevard, and Catawba Falls in Old Fort, are also frozen.

Dave Casey, District Ranger for the forest's Pisgah District, said there is no closure order in effect, which means that accomplished ice climbers can climb the vertical ice sheet, but he wouldn't recommend it.

"Just like rock climbing, ice climbing is not something that you can do safely just because you have the right gear," Casey said.

"You have to know how to use the gear appropriately and be able to properly evaluate the ice you’re thinking about climbing. Not all ice is created equally and can pose different risks."

Ice above can break off, and falls onto ice can be deadly. At any time of year, forest visitors are warned to stay off slippery rocks around waterfalls, never walk across the top of waterfalls and never cross closure barriers.

But do see the natural spectacle before it starts to thaw. Temperatures are expected to warm up next week, all the way to up to the 50s.